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NB Mayor To ‘Cats: Pay Up Or Get Out

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (CBS Connecticut) _ New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart has put the owners of the New Britain Rock Cats on notice – if they don’t pay their property taxes, they’ll have to find a new home.

The organization owes the town of Berlin nearly $165,000 in property taxes because New Britain Stadium is partially located on Berlin property, according to the New Britain Herald.

It’s a stipulation made clear in the Rock Cats lease agreement.

The taxes were due Friday, so the City of New Britain informed Rock Cats ownership that New Britain would pay them so interest didn’t accrue, which would have piled up on New Britain taxpayers.

Now, Josh Solomon, the team owner, owes New Britain the money back.

In a statement, Stewart said she wasn’t going to allow back taxes to pile up on her city, putting the burden on the taxpayers.

She went on to say “I am deeply disturbed by the pattern of utter disrespect that this ownership group has shown to their home city over the past few months. In June, they went public with their dalliance with Hartford, which hasn’t turned out to be quite the “done deal” that some made it out to be. Since then, they have continued their radio silence with New Britain. Now they are stiffing the taxpayers of Berlin and New Britain on their tax bill.”

Solomon has been officially put on notice that if the money owed to New Britain is not paid by Sept. 1, New Britain plans to take possession of the Stadium property and terminate the remaining portion of the lease agreement.